Family

Valentine’s Day is next week and to celebrate, the kids and I made some heart cookies yesterday after school. I really like to decorate for Valentine’s, which is kind of funny, because I really don’t decorate much for any other holiday. I think that I just really like pink, red, and hearts. Even though I don’t think that we need a holiday to tell people that we love them, it is a fun holiday with my kids. My mom always made a huge deal about Valentine’s and so do I.

I have not cooked with my kids in awhile and they have been asking me to for a few weeks. It was cold and yucky out, so we grabbed a cookie mix and some sprinkles and got busy. As much as I love my sugar cookie recipe, it takes a long time to chill and it requires some pre-planning. I keep a few pouches of cookie mix in my pantry for emergencies like this. We made the recipe for cutout cookies on the back of the Betty pouch and decided on double heart cookies. The kids did all of the work, they rolled and cut the shapes, the only thing that I did was take them in and out of the oven. We made a simple glaze and my littles decided on the colors that they wanted. We dipped them in glaze, were generous with the sprinkles, and stacked the smaller hearts on the larger hearts. When they were done, they promptly left the kitchen for me to do the dishes and sweep the sprinkles off of the floor. You can’t win them all I guess. But we had fun making the mess.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the sugar cookie pouch, butter, flour, and egg. Mix until the dough forms a ball. You can do this by hand as well if you like.

Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Use a 3-inch heart cookie cutter to cut the big hearts, and a 1½ inch cutter for the smaller ones. Place the cookies on a cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool for 2 minutes on the sheet, then cool completely on a wire rack.

Make the glaze by whisking the powdered sugar, corn syrup, water, and almond extract. Tint the glaze whatever color you like. Dip the cookies into the glaze, and shake the excess off. Dip the little cookies in sprinkles and cover completely. Set the little cookie on top of the bigger cookie. Let stand for a few hours to set the glaze completely.